The Importance of Students Involvement in Associations amongst UTM Foundation Students

Abstract

Extracurricular or co-curricular is a crucial aspect that improvies students’ learning experience and producing a student that is well equipped with knowledge, ethics, positive attitudes, and value-added skills which are beneficial in their life and work. In order to produce quality graduates, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) has long initiated the execution of holistic student development through involvement in co-curricular activities. However, little is known about UTM Foundation students’ involvement in co-curricular activities provided by the university. Therefore, this study aims to determine UTM Foundations demands for extracurricular activities. A quantitative survey was conducted in which questionnaires were used as the instrument to collect data from 121 respondents who were randomly selected among UTM Foundation students. Collected data was analysed using descriptive analysis which involves frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation. Findings from this study indicate there is a demand for co-curricular activities amongst UTM Foundation students since it can give many positive impacts on students’ learning experience and students’ personality development. The study also suggests the implementation of co-curricular activities as an integral part of the programme as it complements the regular formal curriculum.